Matt Flynn a gentle a not-so-gentle giant

Narrandera's Matt Flynn has both the size and aggression that AFL clubs seem interested in.

Matt Flynn

Off the ground, Matt Flynn is a quiet, unassuming lad from Narrandera in the Riverina’s west.

A gentle giant, some would say.

On the ground he is everything you want from your ruckman, admitting to suffering a little bit of “white line fever”.

Standing at 201cm, Flynn is a bash and crash type player who splits open the packs and paves the way for the onballers.

He describes his aggression and high marking as his greatest asset and it is these sort of shenanigans which have a number of potential suitors lining up to see what he is all about.

Like many ruckman before him, the right-footed Flynn has a basketball background which was identified early on in the piece due to his imposing height.

He took up football at the age of six and has progressed with the Narrandera Imperials the whole way through, except this year where he has played the majority of the season with the NSW/ACT Rams.

By his own standards he had a reasonable national under 18 championship this season, but has had a tremendous audition for league football this year when representing the Giants on a handful of occasions in the NEAFL.

In one game playing against Sydney at Spotless Stadium, he found himself coming up against two of the Swans big men: Toby Nankervis and Tom Derickx, whom he conceded some muscle to.

Funnily enough, Flynn’s sister works as a marketing manager at the Swans and it is quite within the realm of possibility that Sydney’s recruiting staff will call his name out on Tuesday evening at the AFL Draft in Adelaide – especially given the Swans’ liking for NSW players and the recent retirement of premiership ruckman Mike Pyke.

So far this season, he has spoken to North Melbourne, Melbourne, St Kilda and Essendon.

As a GWS Giants Academy player, the Giants can treat him in a similar way to that of a father-son selection. They are widely tipped to be honing in with their first two top 10 selections on Collingullie-Glenfield Park’s Matthew Kennedy and former Leeton-Whitton product Jacob Hopper.

This is ironic as Flynn is a day student at St Francis College in Leeton where Hopper’s parents are boarding masters.

Flynn is not sure what will happen come draft day and is circumspect about his chances but remains hopeful.

If he doesn’t find a home by Tuesday evening then there is always hope of being taken in the pre-season and rookie drafts on Friday, December 4.